The Government Of The Bahamas Has Issued A Tropical Storm Warning For The Southeastern Bahamas...Including The Acklins... Crooked Island...Long Cay...The Inaguas...Mayaguana...The Ragged Islands And The Turks And Caicos Islands...And A Tropical Storm Watch For The Central Bahamas...Including Cat Island...The Exumas ... Long Island... Rum Cay...And San Salvador.

Bertha Is Racing Toward The West-Northwest Near 22 Mph...35 Km/H ... And This Motion Is Expected To Continue Today With A Gradual Turn To The Northwest On Sunday.

On The Forecast Track...The Center Of Bertha Will Pass Near Puerto Rico Later Today...Move Near Or Over The Eastern Dominican Republic Tonight...And Approach The Southeastern Bahamas And The Turks And Caicos Islands On Sunday.

Hazards Affecting Land----------------------Wind...Tropical Storm Conditions Are Expected In Puerto Rico And The Virgin Islands Today...And In The Southeastern Bahamas And The Turks And Caicos Islands By Early Sunday. Wind Gusts To Tropical Storm Force Could Occur In Squalls Over The Remainder Of The Leeward Islands Today. Tropical Storm Conditions Are Possible In The Watch Area In The Dominican Republic By Later Today.

Rainfall...Bertha Is Expected To Produce Rainfall Amounts Of 1 To 3 Inches With Isolated Amounts Up To 5 Inches Across Portions Of The Leeward Islands...As Well As The U.S. And British Virgin Islands... Eastern Portions Of The Dominican Republic As Well As The Turks And Caicos Through Sunday Night. Rainfall Totals Of 3 To 5 Inches With Isolated Maximum Totals Of 8 Inches Are Possible AcrossPuerto Rico...With The Heaviest Totals Across The Southern Portion Of The Island.

Bertha Is A Disorganized Tropical Cyclone, But Based On Earlier Reconnaissance Aircraft Data, It Is Still Producing Winds Of 40 To 45 Knots. Satellite Data Show That The Low-Level Center Is ExposedWith Most Of The Showers And Squalls To The North And East. San Juan Puerto Rico Radar Also Shows The Circulation Associated With The Cyclone. Another Plane Will Be Investigating Bertha In A Few Hours.

The Shear Has Not Decreased, But Global Models Insist On Forecasting A Little More Conducive Upper-Level Environment In 24 Hours Or So. If The Cyclone Survives The Current Shear, And The Interaction With Puerto Rico And Hispaniola, It Could Strengthen Slightly Over The Open Atlantic As Indicated In The Nhc Forecast. In Fact, This Is The Solution Of The Ships And Hwrf Models.

Bertha Continues To Be Embedded Within A Strong Easterly Flow South Of The Subtropical Ridge, And The Cyclone Is Racing Toward The West-Northwest Of 295 Degrees At About 19 Knots.

However, In About 24 To 36 Hours, Bertha Will Reach The Southwestern Edge Of The Ridge And Will Likely Slow Down A Little. The Cyclone Will Then Move Northward And Northeastward Over The Atlantic, Steered By The Southerly Flow Between The Ridge And A Trough Over The Eastern United States. This Is The Solution Of Most Of The Dynamical Models Which Indeed Are In Pretty Good Agreement. The Nhc Forecast Follows The Multi-Model Consensus And Is Very Similar To The Previous One.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.